Decision Table Editor

When you select to create a new Decision Table for an Activity element, or edit an existing one, the name of the Activity element displays in the tab under the Decision Table toolbar.

Access

Ribbon

Design > Element > Decisions

Context Menu

On a diagram:

Right-click on Activity element | Decision Table or

Right-click on Action element | Decision Table

Complete the Decision Table

Task

Action

See also

Enter a condition

You can enter a condition into the table in a number of ways:

Type the text of the condition into the first available row, overtyping the Add Condition text

Drag onto the Add Condition cell the appropriate behavioral object from the Project Browser, such as a model element, Activity Parameter, Operation or Attribute, or

Click on the Add Condition cell and press Ctrl+Spacebar; Intelli-Sense is invoked to provide a list of possible objects that you can select from to complete the condition

Add another condition

You can add further condition rows to the list in any of these ways:

Click on the icon underneath the list of conditions

Right-click anywhere on the condition panel and select the 'Add Condition' option, or

Click on the (Add Condition) icon in the Decision Table toolbar

Each condition that you add is bound to the previous conditions, so that they are evaluated in combination.

List allowable values for the condition

(Optional) You can provide a comma-separated value (CSV) list of the values that you could assign to a condition. If you do this, those values are offered as suggestions to enter in the value fields along the same row.

The allowable values column is hidden by default. To display it, click on the icon in the Decision Table toolbar.

In the allowable values cell against each condition, type in all the possible values separated by commas. These values can include operators such as >, <, = and ... .

Attributes dragged from the Project Browser and classified by an Enumeration will complete the cell automatically and make the field read only.

Set condition values

Each of the conditions you set have defined values that act as a decision point. For example, a person under the age of 18 years old cannot hire a car, so the values of 'Yes' and 'No' are decision points for the condition '18 or over'.

In each of the columns 1, 2, 3 and so on, provide a condition value by either:

Typing the value into the cell (including operators such as >, <, = and ...) or

Right-clicking on the cell and selecting the 'Allowable Values | <value>' option (as set in the allowable values cell)

Add further condition value columns

To add further value columns to the table, either:

Right-click anywhere on the condition panel and select the 'Add Column' option, or

Click on the (Add Column) icon in the Decision Table toolbar

These options add the column to both the 'Condition' and 'Conclusion' panels.

Set the Policy and Completeness

The 'Decision Hit Policy' defines if and how the conditions are combined in making a decision. 'Completeness' identifies whether or not the decision set is complete.

To set these two flags, right-click on the 'Condition' header (top left corner of the 'Condition' panel) and select the options:

'Hit Policy | <value>' and

'Completeness | Complete' or 'Incomplete'

If you do not want to display the completeness, select the 'Completeness | Clear' option.

Delete Column or Condition

To remove a condition that no longer applies, or a column of values that are no longer tested, right-click on the appropriate column or row and select the options:

Delete Condition or

Delete Column

A prompt displays to confirm the deletion. You cannot delete the title column or condition number row, nor can you delete the allowable values column.

Enter a Conclusion

You can enter a conclusion into the table in a number of ways:

Type the text of the conclusion into the first available row, over typing the Add Conclusion text

Drag onto the Add Conclusion cell the appropriate behavioral object from the Project Browser, such as a model element, Activity Parameter, Operation or Attribute

Add Further Conclusions

You can add further conclusion rows to the list in any of these ways:

Click on the icon underneath the list of conclusions

Right-click anywhere on the conclusion panel and select the 'Add Conclusion' option, or

Click on the (Add Conclusion) icon in the Decision Table toolbar

Each conclusion that you add is bound to the previous conclusions, so that the final decision takes them all into account.

List allowable values for the conclusion

(Optional) You can provide a comma-separated value (CSV) list of the values that you could assign to a conclusion. If you do this, those values are offered as suggestions to enter in the value fields along the same row.

The allowable values column is hidden by default. To display it, click on the icon in the Decision Table toolbar.

In the allowable values cell against each conclusion, type in all the possible values separated by commas. These values can include operators such as >, <, = and ... .

Attributes dragged from the Project Browser and classified by an Enumeration will complete the cell automatically and make the field read only.

Set Conclusion values

Each of the conclusions you set has values that define the outcome of the conditional values in the same column, when the conditions are met.

In each of the columns 1, 2, 3 and so on, provide a conclusion value by either:

Typing the value into the cell (including operators such as >, <, = and ...) or

Right-clicking on the cell and selecting the 'Allowable Values | <value>' option (as set in the allowable values cell)

Add Further Conclusion Columns

To add further value columns to the table, either:

Right-click anywhere on the conclusion panel and select the 'Add Column' option, or

Click on the (Add Column) icon in the Decision Table toolbar

These options add the column to both 'Condition' and 'Conclusion' panels.

Set theTable Aggregation Values

The 'Table Aggregation' value indicates how the conclusion values are to be combined to form the decision.

Set the value by right-clicking on the 'Conclusion' column heading and selecting the'Aggregation | <value>' option.

If you do not want to set the Table Aggregation, select the 'Aggregation | Clear' option.

Delete Column or Conclusion

To remove a conclusion that is no longer valid, or a column of result values that are no longer produced, right-click on the appropriate column or row and select the options:

Delete Conclusion or

Delete Column

A prompt displays to confirm the deletion. You cannot delete the title column or conclusion number row, nor can you delete the allowable values column.

Check Object properties and location

If you have created a condition or conclusion by dragging an object from the Project Browser, you can right-click on its row and:

Display the 'Properties' dialog for the object, by selecting the 'Properties' menu option

Locate the object in the model by selecting the 'Find in Project Browser' option

Save your changes

At regular intervals, and before you exit from the table, click on the Save icon in the Decision Table toolbar.

Notes

The Decision Tables facility is available in the Business and Software Engineering and the Ultimate editions of Enterprise Architect